Elon Musk
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If the Roadster was Tesla's early gigging days and the Model S the debut release from a hot new band, the Model X crossover could be considered Tesla's 'difficult second album'. Elon Musk has even hinted so himself, suggesting the car presents "a harder design problem than the Model S". According to Bloomberg (via Charged EVs), Musk blames himself for some of the delays the Model X is undergoing ahead of its production and sales in 2015--a date pushed back from original estimates. "I'm somewhat of a perfectionist" he says, vocalizing the struggle to make something that's normally a bit brash...
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Has U.S. Demand For The Tesla Model S Electric Car Stabilized?
Last month, Tesla Motors reported deliveries of a record 6,892 Model S vehicles during the fourth quarter of 2013. Giddy investors promptly sent Tesla shares zooming higher. But many of those cars--Tesla isn't saying how many--were delivered to Europe. And if you look closely, there are signs that...
David Noland -
Where Should Tesla Put Its Battery Gigafactory? Reader Poll
When electric-car maker Tesla Motors released more information about its planned "gigafactory" to produce lithium-ion battery cells in the U.S., it revealed the four states it's considering as plant locations. They are Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas, all of which are shown as candidate...
John Voelcker -
Tesla's Lithium-Ion Battery Gigafactory: What You Need To Know
This afternoon, Tesla Motors released details on its proposed "Gigafactory" to build lithium-ion cells for its future electric cars. To provide enough cell capacity to build a projected 500,000 electric vehicles in the year 2020, Tesla would require more cells than last year's entire global...
John Voelcker -
Did Apple Discuss Buying Tesla With Elon Musk Last Fall?
On Wednesday, Tesla will report its full-year financial results for 2013, a year in which it seems to have sold more than 20,000 Model S electric luxury sedans. It's an impressive figure for the startup electric automaker, and enough to make you wonder what Tesla could achieve with one of the...
Antony Ingram -
Elon Musk Talks Tesla Model X Details, Model S Upgrades, At Europe Q+A Sessions
Tesla Motors is notoriously stingy with information about its cars and future plans, to the great frustration of news-hungry Model S owners and fans. But in a Q & A session in Norway on February 1, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the company's CTO JB Straubel revealed several intriguing tidbits about...
David Noland -
$121,000 sounds like a lot of money for the Tesla Model S, considering you can pick up the 85 kWh car in the U.S. from $80,000 or so, before incentives. And it is a lot of money, but in China, where that price tag will be attached, Tesla promises it represents good value for buyers. CEO Elon Musk is positive too--expensive it may be, but in comparison to rivals it's very reasonably priced--and China could wind up being Tesla's biggest market. The $50,000 Chinese premium is all down to the way the country's tax system works. MUST READ: Electric Cars & Solar: Will They Make Gasoline &...
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Should Everyone Lease Cars All The Time? Elon Musk Says Yes
Sometimes, it's nice to have a shiny new car sitting in your garage, knowing that you own it. At others, it's preferable to pay a modest amount for it each month knowing that, in two or three years, it will be taken away and is no longer your problem. The latter is what we know as leasing, and it's...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla Superchargers Now Opening Fast, Cross-Country Route Close
After a disappointing 2013, a year in which Tesla fell short of ambitious goals for expanding its Supercharger network, the company has picked up the pace remarkably. Just last week, seven new Superchargers came on line, the latest of a wave of 40 of the proprietary Supercharger DC fast-charging...
David Noland -
Did Elon Musk Make A Mistake In Calling Out The NHTSA On Tesla Recall?
Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] had an up-and-down 2013, and 2014 looks to be no different on initial assessment. While 2013 was a year of rave reviews, high sales and the occasional lows of fire-related incidents, 2014 has started with a charging adapter recall for the startup automaker--one that CEO...
Antony Ingram -
Tesla To Upgrade Electric-Car Wall Chargers For Further Fire Protection
Tesla will follow up a December software update with upgraded charger connectors to prevent overheating.
Stephen Edelstein -
Is Tesla's Solar City Sibling The 'Energy Company Of The 21st Century'?
Some solar-energy companies have had a hard time in recent years, but SolarCity may look a little more promising. That isn't just because Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk is the company's chairman, either--though it can't hurt. Instead, says The Atlantic (on Mashable), it's because the company is...
Antony Ingram -
This started out as a feel-good article about another great experience I had with Tesla's extraordinary service program. But it morphed into a detective story that apparently solves the mystery of why my 60-kWh 2013 Tesla Model S still suffered a significant "vampire" power drain, even after downloading new software that was supposed to tame the beast. Almost from the beginning, the Model S has consumed a significant amount of power when turned off and parked. Last winter, shortly after purchasing my Model S, I measured this "vampire" draw at about 4.5 kWh per day--enough juice to drive about...
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Tesla's Elon Musk Expects NHTSA To Clear Model S In Fires
It's been a bumpy few months for electric car maker, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA]. While enjoying the highs of high customer satisfaction and continued praise for the Model S electric sedan, the company has also endured high scrutiny for a trio of accident-related fires in its vehicles. CEO Elon Musk...
Antony Ingram -
Life With Tesla Model S: Even After Update, Vampire Draw Remains
The Tesla Model S, for all its technical and design artistry, has a dirty little secret: the car has a substantial appetite for kilowatt-hours even when turned off and parked. Since the Model S was introduced in 2012, this "vampire" power drain from the cars sold so far has consumed roughly 15...
David Noland -
Bad Day For Tesla: Sales VP Blankenship Out, NHTSA Threat
There must be days where Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk feels his multiple burdens more acutely than others. Today may be one, because yesterday was not a good day for Tesla. First, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a new set of publicity rules for its crash-testing...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Fires: NHTSA Will Probe, Warranty To Cover Fire Damage, Ride-Height Tweak
It's been quite a month for Tesla Motors and its CEO, Elon Musk. In the wake of three fires in Model S electric luxury sedans, a tsunami of media coverage about those fires, and a falling stock price--which may or may not be directly related--the company went on the offensive yesterday. MORE: Tesla...
John Voelcker -
How Tesla May Beef Up Its Model S Battery Protection System
Unless your name is Brinks, you rarely hear the words "armor" and "car" mentioned in the same sentence. But two recent widely-publicized fires in the Tesla Model S electric car have put the spotlight on how its battery pack is protected from severe impacts underneath the car. MORE: Tesla Fires...
David Noland -
Recent fires of Tesla Model S electric cars aren't worrying the company's CEO, Elon Musk--at least publicly. In a recent CNBC interview (via Forbes), the Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] founder said reports of the fires were little more than an overreaction by the press--and that Tesla's cars are still the safest vehicles on the road. While you might think, "of course he'd say that", Musk has a point--not a single person was injured in any of the three Model S fires so far, nor in any other Model S accident reported since the car went on sale. The statistics also back up Musk's claims--three fires...
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Tesla Fires: What We Know, And What We Need To Find Out
There have now been three separate fires among roughly 20,000 Tesla Model S electric luxury sedans on the world's highways. The most recent one, two days ago, seems to have set off a fresh round of Internet fulmination--combined with much opining on what the news would do to the falling stock price...
John Voelcker -
Tesla Earnings Call: Lithium-Ion Cell 'Giga-Plant' Needed For Future Production
Tesla held its third-quarter earnings call yesterday evening, and CEO Elon Musk stayed pretty much on message. He reiterated that Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] continues to produce its Model S electric luxury sedan, at a current rate of 550 cars per week, and that it is working steadily to reduce the...
John Voelcker -
Elon Musk's Hyperloop Concept Becomes A Company
Ground may already have been broken for California's high speed rail network, but Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk's competing Hyperloop transport system has moved a step closer to reality. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) is the new company aimed at turning Musk's pneumatic pod system into...
Antony Ingram -
Elon Musk Opens New Tesla Store In London Mall: Live Photos
Last Thursday evening, Tesla opened another retail location in its push to expand electric-car sales outside the U.S. This one was in London's Westfield Mall, built along the lines of high-end U.S. malls west of the Notting Hill neighborhood. According to our man on the scene, the lighting was...
John Voelcker -
Tesla CEO Elon Musk Calls Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars "Waste Of Time"
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk is not a man to mince his words. We already know he's not a fan of other electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf or Chevrolet Volt, he doesn't really like plug-in hybrids, and he's quick to step in and defend his company whenever there's a hint of negative publicity. So...
Antony Ingram